Problems Faced by Teenagers

The teenage years are often an awkward stage in human development when a person is neither a child nor an adult. Rather, it is the brink of adulthood that comes with a lot of issues--like self-identity or defining who you are. This is the stage of increased independence and maturity, which is due to learning from mistakes. Often, there is an increased amount of pressure on teens, which ranges from developing bodies to adjustments among family and peers. So what are the problems faced by teenagers?

Acne

The society teaches children from an early age that looks matter. It is hard to escape this conclusion in a time of air-brushed perfection bombarding vulnerable teens from every angle-billboards, magazines, flyers and TV. The message teenagers get is that it is not acceptable to have any kind of imperfection and so, acne which is a very common problem among teens, becomes a big issue. Some teenagers try to hide their acne with their hair, with concealers or the use of excessive makeup. Some teenagers have acne which is more severe than others and it is not enough to tell them to wash their faces, or that they will outgrow it because they might actually need proper professional dermatological help since such severe acne can cause scarring.

Drugs

Since the teenage years are come with more independence, teenagers explore more of the world around them and unfortunately, some of the experimentation can be of negative things like drugs and alcohol. Some teenagers will experiment with marijuana, over-the-counter drugs and inhalants, then move on, while others will sadly migrate to even more dangerous drugs like heroin and cocaine. If care is not taken, such teenagers can end up becoming a menace to themselves and to the society. Some teenagers are more predisposed than others to develop a dependency. Such teenagers are those who already have very low self-esteem, those who have a history of family drug abuse and those in the throes of depression.

Anorexia and Obesity

Body image is one of the primary concerns of teenagers. Overweight teenagers mostly suffer from very low self-esteem due to the perception that the are below the standards of perfection or even acceptability set by society. On the other hand, anorectic teenagers take it to the opposite extreme. They believe that they can never be thin enough and so they literally starve themselves almost to death in a quest to lose phantom calories and remain thin.